Winter Interpol tour saves US from Seasonal Affective Disorder

Ahhhh January and February. The months most universally loathed by those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. The holidays are over, the champagne has been depleted, the giant tins of popcorn we get from relatives we haven’t seen in seven years have been emptied. And all that looms in front of us is several more months of Seasonal Affective Disorder, freezing at the bus stop and eating stupid, lousy soup. (I hate soup. I have teeth! Don’t feed me that octogenarian food.) But this year, something’s different. This year there is… an Interpol tour! Sure, their latest album on Matador wasn’t so thrilling, but mark it on your calendars anyway, people. This could be the only reason to leave your house for the next five months.

Ahhhh January and February. The months most universally loathed by those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. The holidays are over, the champagne has been depleted, the giant tins of popcorn we get from relatives we haven’t seen in seven years have been emptied. And all that looms in front of us is several more months of Seasonal Affective Disorder, freezing at the bus stop and eating stupid, lousy soup. (I hate soup. I have teeth! Don’t feed me that octogenarian food.) But this year, something’s different. This year there is… an Interpol tour! Sure, their latest album on Matador wasn’t so thrilling, but mark it on your calendars anyway, people. This could be the only reason to leave your house for the next five months.

Okay, Nobodaddy, let’s get it together. You can do this. Just take a deep breath and have a look at the story: “LCD Soundsystem is releasing a new, career-spanning John Peel-style live album called The London Sessions on November 9 via DFA/Virgin that will be available exclusively on iTunes through December 6”? Hmm. Okay. Let’s think. Maybe I’ll start out with something about how LCD Soundsystem is “explosive” and James Murphy is “relevant”?

Yeah, okay, now we’re cooking. So then I can probably pull something from the press release, like “The London Sessions is a unique […] nine-track encapsulation of one of today’s most acclaimed acts in perhaps their rawest and most original recordings to date”? And then maybe play up the “live” angle with that bit that says the album “perfectly captures the intuitive live evolvement of LCD as a band” because “nothing is replicated with computers” and “everything instead is recreated in real time, tougher, looser and less clinically”? Eh. I don’t know. That seems a little hacky, actually. Maybe, Nobodaddy, you should just get to the details, like about how the session was recorded in one day at South London’s Pool/Miloco studios June 29 (right after their Glastonbury performance, I’m pretty sure) and how it features tracks from all three LCD records, which were subsequently mixed by Murphy at DFA’s New York studio and mastered by Bob Weston in Chicago. People really care about that sort of stuff in release-related news stories, I think.

Okay. Cool. This is going pretty well. Should I get into anything else here, though? Like that bit about how fans of LCD will know that radio sessions are something that the band has studiously avoided because of their (well, probably Murphy’s) belief in maintaining “the highest quality of all sonic recordings released into the ether”? Naw. You’ll lose ‘em with that shit for sure. I’d just cut to the chase. Where’s the tracklist? Ah, here it is.

The London Sessions tracklisting:

01. Us v. Them
02. All I Want
03. Drunk Girls
04. Get Innocuous
05. Daft Punk Is Playing at My House
06. All My Friends
07. Pow Pow
08. I Can Change
09. Yr City’s a Sucker

It seems as if Brooklyn-based hip-hop artist Beans, of the recently reunited Anti-Pop Consortium, was looking to experiment with his next album. Appropriately, Beans headed to Anticon, the hip-hop label that everyone knows is all about experimentation, and the two parties worked out a new deal to release Bean’s upcoming fourth album, End It All.

The new album is described as being “lush, darkly tinted soundscapes from some of the most inspired names in contemporary production.” The album also displays the MC pushing his distinctive vocal stylings to “new heights,” exploring “highly stylized braggadocio,” and narratives about mysteries and the detectives who solve them.

Are you still wondering who those above mentioned “most inspired names in contemporary production” are? Well, let me enlighten you: the list of guest producers includes Four Tet, Clark, Tobacco, Bumps, Son Lux, and Interpol’s Sam Fog; this is actually Bean’s first album to feature only guest producers.

The album is set for release sometime in early 2011 and already looks to be further proof that Beans is one of the most exciting, original, and entertaining MCs making music today, as well as a crazy-versatile artist always looking to try something new. Furthermore, all this information goes to show that Beans, when eaten in excess, will most definitely make you toot.

Those Thank You boys are such nice young men. Just so polite and always so punctual with the church service. They’re the moral beacons of the Baltimore community and they can expect a nice batch of cookies from me whenever they want some. Nice, nice boys.

But those Thrill Jockey kids. I know, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all, but I just can’t help myself. Those folks are bad news. They’re always… jockeying thrills. No, I don’t know what it means either, but I know I don’t like it! And they’re always signing sweet Baltimore bands and corrupting them. Those Future Islands boys used to be so nice.

Oh, I’m just worried about Thank You. When they told me over tea that they were putting out their new album, Golden Worry, through Thrill Jockey, I nearly dropped my antique porcelain teacup. I just don’t see why they’d want to associate with… those types. Still, I’m sure it’ll be a wonderful album. They were telling me how it would be out January 25 and about all the wonderful poly-rhythmic drumming and post-punk sounds it was going to have. It all just sounded lovely.

So, like, PUH-LEESE tell me that you already knew that stoner-rock masterminds Queens of the Stone Age were planning on reissuing their critically whatever’d, universally blah-blah-blah’d 1998 self-titled debut album in order to better reflect “the band’s original vision for the album” through the inclusion of three bonus tracks that were initially cut from the record. Because I really have to go to the bathroom right now, and I can’t just sit around explaining all this shit to you.

And while you’re at it, PUH-LEESE tell me that you’ve already heard that it’s coming via frontman Josh Homme’s Rekords Rekords label in two (count ‘em, two) formats, the first being a traditional CD release, and the second being a 180 gram, double-gatefold double LP with accompanying digital download card. Because that’s going to make my job a whole lot easier going forward.

Oh. You did know those things already? Whhhew, great! Okay then, before I pee my pants, here’s the new part: its release has been moved to January 11.

01. Regular John
02. Avon
03. If Only
04. Walkin’ on the Sidewalks
05. You Would Know
06. The Bronze *
07. How to Handle a Rope (A Lesson in the Lariat)
08. Mexicola
09. Hispanic Impressions
10. You Can’t Quit Me Baby
11. These Aren’t the Droids You’re Looking For*
12. Give the Mule What He Wants
13. Spiders and Vinegaroons*
14. I Was a Teenage Hand Model